Tour attractions in Holland

Museums and Memorial Regions

Van Gogh Museum
Vincent van Gogh is a famous Dutch painter. Many of his most famous paintings were painted during the 4 years he spent in France. The Van Gogh Museum is in Paulus Potterstraat. It contains hundreds of the painter's sketches and paintings, as well as works by Vincent's younger brother Theo and by other painters of that period such as Toulouse-Lautrec, Monet and Gaughin.
Holland Tour

Anne Frank House
Anne Frank was a 13-year old girl living in Amsterdam when the Nazis occupied the Netherlands in World War Two. Because her family was Jewish, her father created a secret room in their house and the family hid there for two years, from 1942 to 1944. Anne Frank started to keep a diary. In 1944 someone informed the German soldiers about their hiding place, and the family was sent to concentration camps. Anne was sent to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp: she died there shortly before the war ended. Fortunately Anne's diary was kept safe by a housekeeper, and her father (the only member of the family who survived the war) decided to publish it. This moving story became an international bestseller, and a film version made in 1959 won an Oscar. The house were Anne Frank and her family lived has been turned into a museum.

Westerkerk church
There is a memorial to the victims of the Auschwitz concentration camp in the Amstel area of the city. There is also a monument in the shape of a pink triangle in memory of the homosexuals who were also killed by the Nazis (homosexuals were forced to wear a pink triangle on their clothes, while Jewish people were forced to wear a star of David) - this is called the Homomonument, and is located on Keizergracht, not far from the Westerkerk.

Rijks Museum
The Rijks museum is a large art gallery, and is the most popular tourist attraction in Amsterdam. It contains thousands of paintings, including those by Dutch masters such as Rembrandt.

Sightseeing

Schreiestoren/Stnikolaaskerk
Amsterdam has been a major trading port for hundreds of years. Sailors leaving the port would often be away for many months before returning, assuming that they could come back safely. One of the last buildings which they could see before leaving is called the Schreierstoren (crying tower): the partners of the sailors would gather here and cry as their loved ones went out to sea. The church nearby is called St Nikolaaskerk - it is dedicated to Saint Nicholas, who is the patron saint of travellers.

Flower Market
Holland is famous for its flowers it holds the world's largest flower auction. Many local people decorate their houses and balconies with flowers. There is a floating flower market Bloemenmarkt on the Singel and in Muntplein.

Keukenhof Gardens
In this park, tulips of all sorts and colors bloom by the millions in the 2 months of the year that it is open usually from the third week of March to the third week of May. The gardens are a veritable sea of color.